Hammond says UK will not be able to 'cherry pick' Brexit terms

Britain will not be able to "cherry pick" the best terms in any Brexit negotiations, Chancellor Philip Hammond said on Wednesday as formal notice was served by the UK to leave the European Union.

Hammond, the most prominent "Remain" member of Prime Minister Theresa May's cabinet, said the UK had to acknowledge that there would be "consequences" of its decision to leave the EU and its single market and that "we can't have our cake and eat it".

His remarks were seen as a clear slap down for Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, who had claimed that the UK could enjoy all the perks of free trade even if if failed to reach any sort of deal with EU post Brexit saying: “Our policy is having our cake and eating it."

Earlier this month Johnson, a leading member of the "Leave" campaign said Britain would be “perfectly OK” without a deal on Brexit and should be prepared to walk away from EU talks.

Hammond said he was "confident" Britain could get an acceptable deal, but specifically did not repeat May's assertion that "no deal is better than a bad deal".

"We accept that because of our requirements, because of the requirements that the British people specified in the referendum result, we will not be members of the European single market, we will not be full members of the European customs union. And not being members of those entities has some consequences. It carries some significance," he told the BBC.

"I think the fact that we have set that out very clearly has sent a clear signal to our European partners that we understand that we can’t cherry pick, that we can’t have our cake and eat it, that by deciding to leave the European Union and negotiate a future relationship with the EU as an independent nation, there will be certain consequences of that. And we accept those."